


A Butterfly's Nightmare

by loveandwar007



Category: Star vs. The Forces Of Evil
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fluff, bear in mind i wrote this before season 2 started, it's old i just never published it, just a little thing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-06
Updated: 2016-09-06
Packaged: 2018-08-13 11:51:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,624
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7975807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loveandwar007/pseuds/loveandwar007
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Late one night after a horrifying dream, Star despairs over everything she's done wrong. Marco reminds her of everything she's done right. And they both remember that they're everything to each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Butterfly's Nightmare

“ _Yes!_ Yes yes yes! Five for Star, zip for Marco!”

“Okay, how about now? Ready to talk now?”

“Nope, one more round!”

“You said that three rounds ago--”

“Annnnnd go!” Button smashing was no exaggeration when Star Butterfly tackled video games, and Marco Diaz had a feeling he was going to have to invest in a new controller soon. Good thing his birthday was coming up, which meant a big fat check from Abuela Diaz, whose eyesight was going and had a tendency to put the decimal point in the wrong place. Maybe he’d have enough left over to get Star something, too. Something that would make her smile.

He really just wanted to see her smile again. Not the demented way she was grinning now as she pulverized the pixelated monsters on the TV screen, the slasher smile she wore when blasting monsters out of her path. Marco wanted to see a real genuine Star smile again. Like the one she usually reserved just for him. The last time he tried to cheer her up, he’d brought _real_ monsters into this dimension for her to fight off. That didn’t appear to be an option right now, with the wand being the way it was, so Marco had to resort to the Earth way of blowing off steam. And now it was 4:30 in the morning. The sun would be coming up soon. And Marco still had no idea why they were awake.

It was a little after 1 AM when he had bolted upright, hearing Star scream out in a cracked strangled voice. At least his parents had taken off unexpectedly for the weekend or they probably wouldn’t have been happy about having their sleep interrupted. Marco was pretty sure this wasn’t something they could understand much anyway. He had a couple pretty good guesses as to what it was, and the name Toffee came to mind in both of them. What Marco hadn’t been expecting was what he heard when he reached the doorway to her room, nor his reaction to the sound. Long moans, hitched breathing, mucus-filled sniffles--Star was crying.

He had never heard her cry this hard before, it was almost as shocking as the pain in his chest it caused. As if someone had thrust their hand into his chest, grabbed hold of his pounding heart and squeezed it tight. And yet he was still propelled forward, bolting through the door to sit on the edge of her bed. She had fallen back on the pillows, tears streaming across her face sideways as she gulped, her eyes closed, still half asleep. He knew now that she hadn’t even noticed his presence, reaching to push the hair out of her face, letting his fingers run the length of the blonde strands on her head as she continued to whine in her sleep. But Marco didn’t care--he just wanted her to stop making those sounds that were tearing him apart inside.

 _Why_ was it tearing him apart inside? Why had he jumped up and run from the bedroom when the princess finally awoke fully, pretending to pass by in the hall when she opened the door timidly to find him there? When did a glass of water turn into six rounds of Marco’s new game, Star managing to beat levels he hadn’t even reached yet? Because Marco wanted to keep her happy. And at the same time wanted to know what had caused her so much pain. He wanted to help and she wouldn’t tell him a thing. He _hated_ it. He hated this fake joy plastered on her face as much as he hated her tears. Enough was enough.

Getting up from the couch, Marco stomped over to the power strip on the floor and used his big toe to nudge the red switch. Instantly they were plunged into darkness.

“Hey, what gives?!” Star exclaimed irritably.

“Oh dear! It seems the power has gone out!” Marco proclaimed dramatically. “Whatever shall we do now?”

“You turned off the power switch, I saw you,” Star pouted, fumbling around for the lamp switch before it bathed the room in a dim yellow light. She gestured with a flourish, her frown deepening. “See?”

“Okay you’re right, I turned it off.”

Star gasped, “You  _lied_ to me, Marco Diaz. _Lies._ And I gave you laser-eyed puppies from my own wand!”

“Yeah, about that wand--could that _wand_ have had anything to do with why you woke up screaming in the middle of the night?” Marco folded his arms across his chest, watching Star’s indignant expression melt into something between embarrassment and...fear?

“Was I...uh…” She chewed on her bottom lip, “Was I that loud?”

“I think everyone in the next block heard you.” He didn’t mean to sound so firm, but there was no other way he was going to get this out of her. He let his arms drop as he moved back to the couch. “C’mon, you can tell me. You’re freaking out about the broken wand, aren’t you?”

“No, it wasn’t that.”

“Then was it Toffee?”

Star winced visibly at the name, snatching up the controller on the couch cushion beside her again. “Marco, I really don’t wanna talk about this, can you just turn the TV back on--?”

“ _No_ ,” Marco ripped the controller out of her hands and flung it over the back of the couch, hearing it crunch sickeningly on the hardwood floor. _Birthday’s coming_ , he reminded himself before fixing his gaze on the princess again. “What did you dream about that scared you so bad?”

“I wasn’t scared,” Star insisted, her throat tightening. “I was...startled.” Good thing she’d perused that thesaurus while in the bathroom the other day.

“You were crying.”

“I wasn’t crying!” she squawked sharply, folding her hands anxiously in front of her as she stared into her lap.

“Yes you were, I saw you!” Marco finally confessed, and Star turned to gape at him. “I--I went in your room while you were still asleep. I’m sorry I invaded your privacy but--but I just couldn’t stand seeing you like that. It scared _me_. So I sat next to you and tried to...calm you down, I guess.”

“Wait, that was  _you_?” Star asked in a hushed voice.

“Uh, yeah. Who’d you think it was, the puppies?”

“No, my mom.” Star turned away from him to stare out the window. “The castle was in ruins, and Toffee was coming after me with that _twisted_ smile on his face. Then everything faded away, and Mom was there--but she was covered in blood--and I couldn’t save her. But she stroked my hair and said everything--”

“--would be alright,” Marco finished. “Yep, that was me.”

“Mewni was destroyed...my parents were dead...all I had left was my cleaved wand.” She was trembling from head to toe, and Marco placed the woven afghan from the back of the couch around her shoulders. She shook her head, “That wasn’t why I screamed, though. That wasn’t what scared me more than anything.”

Marco’s insides turned to ice--he had a feeling he knew where this was going, and he didn’t like it one bit.

“When Toffee came out of the ruins, he was carrying a body...it had a red hoodie on…” Her words dwindled down into a whine from the back of her throat, and she pressed the heels of her hands to her eyes. “He said ‘ _You would’ve given up everything for him, and now he’s gone._ ’ Th-then he tossed you aside, like--like you were _nothing_.” A sob burst from her as she whirled her head around, and now Star wept freely in front of Marco, tears pouring from her clear blue eyes. “I _told_ you I didn’t wanna talk about this!”

“Star!” Marco cried out as she jumped up from the couch, ignoring him as she flung the blanket off and dashed up the stairs. It only took him a split second of self-debate before he followed her, scrambling up the staircase and stumbling down the dark hallway before catching up with her in her bedroom once more.

“I hate you…” Star was kneeling on the floor, staring furiously down at something in her hands. Marco didn’t have to look to know what it was. The wand, trembling in her grip, the broken golden star fragment glittering in the moonlight from the window. “I hate you, I hate you,  _I hate you!_ ”

“Star, stop it!” Marco screamed over her as she smashed the wand into the floor over and over again. With all the powers of the universe at its disposal, naturally the princess’ hysteria only caused it a few dents and scuffs. She let out a final long loud scream and flung it against the wall once she realized she couldn’t make it as broken as she was. Shuddering violently, she clenched her fists against the floor, her long blonde hair hiding her face from view. For a few moments she said nothing, then croaked out a solitary whimper that completely shattered his heart.

“Marco…?” That was all he needed to hear to slide down to his knees beside her, gathering her fragile form in his arms. Star clutched at the front of his shirt as she started to wail, the weight of everything she was, everything she’d done, and everything she’d caused crashing down on her at once.

“I’m right here…” Marco rocked her slightly as they sat huddled together on the floor, feeling the heaviness of her grief against him, his neck and collar soaked through with her tears. “I’m here Star, I’m okay…”

“I’m sorry!” she bawled, reaching up to cup her hand around his cheek--surprising Marco a bit with this display of affection. “I am so _so_ sorry, Marco! You shouldn’t have g-gotten mixed up in all of this, it’s all my f-fault. I have no clue how you wound up with me, but you d-don’t deserve any of this. I should just get out of your hair while I can, so you can be safe--”

“I don’t want you to,” Marco’s voice cracked as a hard lump rose up in his throat. “I don’t want you to leave--you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

“No I’m not,” Star whined. “I’m a terrible princess and an even _worse_ friend. I can’t even protect you when it counts.”

“You’re an amazing princess,” Marco rubbed her back as she wiped at her streaming eyes and nose on his shirt. “Nobody in the universe can do what you did. You’re...you’re so important, Star. To Mewni, to your family, and--and to me.” He swiped his hand across his own eyes. “ _Especially_ to me.”

“Don't _you_ start crying. ‘Cause if you cry then I’m not gonna be able to stop…” She trailed off blubbering once more as Marco hid his watering eyes in her shoulder. There was something about the way they held each other, how they effortlessly seemed to melt into each other’s arms that was thoroughly comforting for both of them. Even after all that had happened, and was probably going to happen, neither of them had ever felt more protected than they did at that moment. Neither of them had ever felt a spirit more kindred to theirs as they cried together on the floor in Star’s bedroom.

Star knew what it was, Marco didn’t seem to have caught on yet: Something had happened the night of the Blood Moon Ball. The night Marco stole Tom’s dance with her. Not that she’d minded about that in hindsight, but...Tom had said something about binding their souls together for all eternity. And since Tom didn’t get that dance, that must have meant…

She was bound to _Marco_ for all eternity. And that connection was completely unbreakable.

“Hey.” She nudged his shoulder, her sobs quieting and her tears slowing. “Hey Marco…” He raised his head, wiping his stuffed nose on his wrist as he looked away from her. He never liked crying in front of people, and least of all wanted Star to see him like this, especially when she herself was so upset. But she kept her arms firmly around his neck, fluffing his thick brown locks with her fingers. “Look, I didn’t mean to--”

“It’s okay,” he waved her off with a hard sniffle. “It’s not you, it’s just--I’ve been thinking about stuff a lot, too. I don’t know what I’d do if anything happened to you, Star.”

“Oh, don’t worry about me,” she broke into a smile at last. “Long as I got my wand, I--” She stopped. “Well, not sure about the wand right now, but uh--it’ll be okay. I’ve gone without magic before--”

She was cut off as Marco crushed her to him again, and a glowing warmth filled both of their chests to bursting. “I don’t know how to protect you. And I feel like I’m gonna _need_ to soon, ya know?”

“You just did,” Star pulled back to look at him, his wet chocolate brown eyes gleaming back at her. “I needed a hug from my best Earth bestie, and I got one. I need to know you’re still here with me and not meeting some terrible fate inside my nightmare, and you are. That’s all I need from you, Marco. You, by my side.”

“Really, that’s it?”

“You sound disappointed,” Star noted his flat tone. “You got the easy part.”

“Nothing’s easy about seeing Princess Star Butterfly unhappy. Or in danger.”

“Well, I’m feeling a lot better now.” She yawned loudly, every one of her teeth visible as Marco leaned back from her early morning breath. “And sleepy.”

“Then I guess my work here is done.” Star let out a yelp as Marco stood, lifting her up with him princess-style in his arms. “Oh geez, didn’t think this through-- _argh_!” His strength all but gave out as he unceremoniously dropped her on her mattress. “Whew! I think you put on some more muscle there.”

Star giggled goofily, “That was fun.”

There was the smile he was looking for. Just Star being Star. Marco smiled back before turning to head for the door to his own room, only to feel her hand latch onto his.

“I don’t know what’s gonna happen either,” she confessed quietly. “But...let’s take it one day at a time, alright?”

Marco glanced back at her over his shoulder. “Okay...whatever you say.” He paused, reflecting on her words, then squeezed her hand back. “You know, you’re gonna make a great ruler someday.”

Star’s hearts on her cheeks became more luminescent. “You think so?”

“I _know_ so.”

“Hey, even rulers need someone they’re close to. Someone they can lean on.”

He didn’t want to let go of her hand--nor, it seemed, did she. And nothing could have prepared either of them for what happened next. Star yanked him down by the arm so his face was level with hers, and gave him such a quick peck on the cheek he was half-sure he imagined it.

“G’night Marco!” she trilled, before flinging the covers over herself and burrowing her head under the pillows.

“Uh--eh--huh…” His mouth didn’t seem to want to form the words in his brain, so he slowly backed out of the room, muttering a quick “G’night” before walking briskly back into the hallway.

It didn’t feel weird, not one part of anything that had just transpired felt out of place. It was almost as if that was always meant to happen. Like they had just completed a task in the grand universal timeline.

Like Star, and her butterfly kiss, were the key to Marco’s destiny.

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos are great, but comments are better :)


End file.
